Back in 2012, the Earth narrowly escaped a solar storm “big enough to knock modern civilization back to the 18th century,” according to a report published by NASA. “If it had hit, we would still be picking up the pieces,” University of Colorado Professor Daniel Baker said. On July 23, 2012 a powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from the sun at speeds as fast as 3,000 kilometres per second. […]